Grid panel unit for radiant heat and like installations



y 15, 1952 J. GRAHAM, JR 8 GRID PANEL' UNIT FOR RADIANT HEAT AND LIKE INSTALLATIONS Filed Jan. 7, 1947 Patented July 15, 1952 GRID.PAQNEYL'UNITFORRADIA1I HEAT. i

' AND LIKE INSTALLATIONS? John Gama-n, astman;a.if jdpplicationJa'ni a l '1, 1941','seg ia 1 ;'v2 ;2 1

The presentinventibn; relates to panelhnits for 'radianthheat and like installations and ainfis generallyito provide an improved prefabricated panel @011 unit for such installations. 1

"Asiis wen know hefprinci les of-radiant heating. have been well established andinvolve the transmission through space of heat-carrying rays which generally have 'ajminor effe'ct upon the temperature of thefspacepbutwhenintercepted by 'a solid, object, actto heat the exposed surface of that object. If the intercepting-surface .is the human body exposed to cold atmos pheri'c surroundings,v the j intercepted heat -rays tend to offset the bodys surface heat loss to the surrounding air, thus producing a sensation of .heating panel unitfis embedded. in a floor of a room, the heat transfer is 45 per cent by convection and 55 per cent by radiant transfer; for side wall'installed panel uriitsithe heat transfer is 40 per cent by convection and 60 percent by radiant transfer, and for ceilinginstalled panel 7 units the heat transfer is 33 per centby'convectionrand 67 per cent by radiant transfer.

Accordingly, in the interests of economy it is desirableto employ ceiling installed panel units for, radiant heating systemswhere suchj installations are possible. o

1 conventionally, radiant heating systems installed in ceilings, walls and floors of buildings are voperated by circulating a heating fiuid, for

example water, through thin wal1ed,'light weight pipes or tubes in the form of flat coils embedded in the plaster or cementitious materialofthe wall structures; Such pipes or tubes conveniently are light weight flexible copper or aluminum tubing of approximately 4'', or A" soft straight runs of which are suitably spaced, 'as for "example 4 6", 9" or 127 on centers accord- "ingfto calculation based on the make-up of heat f losses from the, interior of structures to the at- I mospheric exterior." The coils may extend either 2 a s, c1. 257- 255)- system by supplyand return-risers.

partl -ite 's; r enure1y= across 'the room' from "side wall to side wall and thecoils for each space or room are connected:tothe 'fluid distributing The installation of ceiling installed radiant "heat units'fheretoforehas been expensive and laborious work; The tubing usually has been suppliedinj standard coils of 40 to feet in length, which is progressively uncoiled and; attached to the ceiling pl'asterlathing bya'workman or workmen who must carefully measure and lay out the positionof each straight runin accordance with the calculated heating layout for the room, as well as making the return bends inthe tubing, taking care not tounduly flatten the flexible tubing. -No matter what hand method 1 is devised by the workmen at the job, whether bending andflattaching the tubing inplace on the ceiling-'onforming the bends on the floor-and lifting sections and attaching them in place, the 'entireprocess is so slow I and laborious that the laborinstallation{costs}on the job are excessive and often prohibitive, and besides, many workmen dislike making'such installations-because of the arduous labor involved in making overhead installations; Moreover, with such-prior methods of installation where the tubing is secured tightly to the'lath there is no opportunity to obtain desired spaced relationship between the tubing and t the plaster lathing for the purpose of insuring the tubing being Wholly embedded in'the plaster or cementitious coating,- which condition is necessary to the "efilciency of radiant heat-"installations, and further; frequently the sections of tubi n forming the coil are not level and thus likely to detrimentally affect the proper installationand operation of the system.

One of the primary objects of the invention is the provision of a prefabricated panel unit for radiant'heatandlike installations which may-be more readily and easily installed and connected by the heatingcontractor to form a coil after the plaster I contractor has installed the a desired plasterlathingbasel' v I *Jinoth'er bject of-'-the invention isthe provision-of an"'ir nproved*-pane1 unit that may be readily and economically v prefabricated.- in desired" sizes either for shipment to thejjob or which 'mayfbequickly installed on thejob with a'mini- I temper tubes in the form; of a fiat coil, the g mum ofefiort and'at a minimum o'f-expense';

A further object ofthe invention is thep-r'ovienin'gan'd "nailing members so as 'to properly of a building will be insured regardless of variae tions in spacing of said joists andra fters.

Other aims and objects of the invention willi appear to persons skilled in the art from a con sideration of the accompanying drawings." and'j.

annexed specification illustrating..anddescribing a preferred embodiment of theinvention'; In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a typical radiant heat panel installation in a ceiling ofa room and em .bodying grid panel units according to an em bo'diment of the invention; a

Fig. 2 is a sectional view thereof as taken .on

the line 2-,2 of Fi 1; 1

Fig. 3 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2 but il-lustrating'the heatin'ggrid panel applied to a plaster lathing base of the wall board'type',

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view as taken on. the line 44 of Fig.1:

:Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view as taken on the line 5-5 of Fig.4;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of disassembled grid panel units or sections according to the invention and which may be readily assembled and connected.

to form a continuous coil; and i V i I Fig. 7 is anenlarged detail sectional view illustrating the manner of attaching the tubing to the stifiening and nailing members..-

Referring to the drawings, the invention is illustrated as adaptable-for and-as applied to a ceiling wall of a building though it willbe apparent that it is equally adaptable to'sidewall and floor installations. According-ly;as used herein, the term wall includes a ceiling; structure as. well as a side wall or floor structure and includes p efer y a mon lit ic s u e;..em ed.yi cementitious material, for; example plaster, se-

cured 1to=a supporting lathingbase; which base-in turn is secured by nailing-pr otherwisev to. supports such as -the joists; or studs of buildings. I

In thedrawings, the invention is shown incorporated in a ceiling w-all which nay include the usual floor joists I to which a lathing base has been. applied, this work being usually .per-

straight runs 5 willbe variouslyspaced'depend- 'ingupon the calculated heat loss, and'may be,

for example, l 6 9. or 12' on centers or 6 gand lthe'TCQil '1? ing; connected to supply and. return ,ris'ers. .l 0

4 the heated fluid from and to the heating plant. The coil is designed to be embedded in and become an integral part of a monolithic ceiling or side wall so as to supply heat to the wall over a substantial area.

The heating coils are conveniently formed of light weight thin walled tubing, for example A", A or copper tubing, weighing approximatelyt gto /3 pounds: perioot of tubing. Such tubing is exceedingly flexible and is. easily bent, this being a desirable feature from the standpoint of weight and cost.

According. to the invention, the coil is composed of sections of open ended tubing held together inpredetermined spaced relation by rods for stiifening members later to be described. Preferably, .as shown in Fig. 6, each coil panel is composed of one or more sections A composed-{of a plurality of open ended straight tube sections 5, a right hand section B composed of aplurality of. U-shaped bends of tubing 6, and a left hand section 0 composedof a plurality of U -shaped bends of tubing 1; Theseveral pieces of tubing of eachsectionare individually secured to stifieners. or nailing. strips [5 which are suitably spaced apart? in accordanoe with the-length As is-illustrated in Fig. 6, each of the end sections B and C may include a plurality of .U-shaped tubing, sections 6 or 1' and a single straight. section-6 and I which may have couplings l2 attachedto the'opposite. ends.

The stiffening. or nailing members 15 are preferably of fiat metal bars of suitablewi'dth and thickness, provided with a longitudinal series of nailing, or attaching holesv I16. These holes l6 are. suitably spaced, as for example on /2 or inch centers, so as. to provide at least one nailing or attachingv hole for each supporting stud or joist when the stifiening and nailing members [5 are disposed perpendicularly to the supporting pieces .I.. The stiffening and nailing members. .15 will be of .sufiicient thickness to set the position-of the sections of tubing 5, 6 or 'L suffi'ciently away from. the plaster lathing base 2 or 3 so as to'permit the plaster or .cementitious layer 4 above to entirely surround the tubing. The tubing-sections 5,6 and I of the respective sections A, B and C may be attached to the stiffening and nailing strips l5 by suitablefastenings .which, in the illustrated.emb.odiment,..may

comprise a clip. or saddle member having a, bight portion 20. adaptedto-underlie the'tubing with aperturedend flanges 2i for attachment to the stiffening or nailing strips 15. The clips or saddle members maybe attached to the stiffening. members 1.5 by suitable means, as for ex- .70. ;on anyreguiredspacing. 'l'hese-straight runs 5 .araconnected-at their. ends-by. reverse briU-hends ample,-a hollow. tubular ri-vet 22 passed through al-ig ned apertures of the flangesll and the nail- .lng openings i6 'ofthemembers [5, oneend of therrvetbeing upset or otherwiseclenched with the inner face of the member 15, asat 2.3.. The

use-.ofa tubular 'typefastening 22 for this .pur-

pose is oi advantage in that itprovides a pass- .age for alnail l! or attaching, member for or joist l.

vantage in that they may be quickly and cheaply applied, and provide an initially loose connection between the tubing 6 and stiffening member 15, permitting ready shifting of the latter along.

the tubing to a position where it may be aligned with a supporting joist or stud l, in such cases where the stiffening member is disposed parallel to the joists or studs I, as shown in Figs. 2 to 5 inclusive. When the grid panel is nailed or attached to the supporting joists or studs I by driving the nail I! through the tubular rivet 22, the saddle member 20 is drawn against the stiffening member I 5 securely clamping the tubing in place. 1

From the above description it will be understood that the sections A, B and C may be prefabricated at the factory in various sizes and lengths to suit the particular requirements, and shipped to the job, there to be readily assembled and connected to provide a continuous coil, as shown in Fig. l, of desirable width, depending upon the length of the middle straight run section A. The several sections A, B and C may be nailed to the supporting joists or studs I under the previously applied plaster lathing base 2 or 3, by nailing through the apertures l6 of the strips I5 and preferably through the tubular rivets 22 of the fastenings 20. To facilitate this nailing, the strips IS with the fastenings 20 are readily shiftable along the length .of the tubing 5, 6 and l to be aligned with the studs or joists I, thus avoiding the necessity of installing cats or like transverse nailing strips in the supporting framework.

After the sections A, B and C have been secured in place, as above described, the adjoining open ends of the tubes of the adjacent sections may be readily connected by soldering or brazing the plain ends of one into the couplings 12 or fitted ends of the other. The extreme flexibility of the thin walled light weight tubing permits the ready bending of the tube ends into the adjoining couplings I2, following which a workman may quickly solder the two together. The terminal ends of the coils are then ready for connection to the supply and return risers In shorter lengths the middle sec- V II] and ll. tion A may be omitted, in which case the sections B and C may be joined together to form a grid panel.

As above stated, the tubes are spaced from the plaster lathing 2 or 3 a predetermined distance,

ing base, necessary to the most efiicient functioning of radiant heating systems, the invention has the advantage of very materially reducing the labor cost of installation. Relatively unskilled workmen may install a radiant heat grid panel embodying this invention in approximately one quarter to one half the time formerly required of skilled workmen employing the prevailing methods. In addition, this invention relieves the workmen of many arduous duties of measuring and bending the tubing in overhead installations. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the art that the sections A, B and C may be prefabricated in sizes suitable for packaging and convenient shipment, and at the same time permitting them to be readily connected together to form a grid panel of any desired length and width. s

The term radiant heat and like installations, as used herein, is intended to apply to cooling systems as Well, wherein a cooling fluid, for example cold water, may be circulated through the coils of tubing. As Will be apparent, this will have a desirable cooling effect upon a space, and would be desirable in those localities where atmosphere humidity is sufiiciently low so as not to cause condensation on surfaces adjacent the cooling medium.

Although I have illustrated-and described my plurality of apertures, saddle-shaped fastener means disposed on one of the faces of said stiffening members and loosely embracing said runs of tubing, said saddle-shaped fastener means being provided with apertured ends, and tubular nailreceiving attaching means passed through the apertures of said saddle-shaped fastener and stiffening members for maintaining said parts in assembled relation.

2. A grid panel for radiant heat and like installations comprising a length of flexible tubing providing a plurality of parallel runs, a plurality of relatively narrow stiffening members disposed transversely of said runs and provided with a plurality of apertures, saddle-shaped fastener means disposed on one of the faces of said stiffening members and loosely embracing said runs of tubing, said saddle-shaped fastener means being provided with apertured ends, and tubular rivets passed through the apertures of said saddleshaped fasteners and stiffening members, said tubular rivets providin an axial passage for a nailing element to secure said panel to a supporting structure.

JOHN GRAHAM, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the flle of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 429,357 McBee June 3,.1890 1,649,542 Parks Nov. 15, 1927 1,987,422 Steenstrup Jan. 8, 1935 2,255,959 Franco-Ferreira Sept. 16, 1941 2,379,893 Ellenwood July 10, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 321,450 Great Britain Nov. 11, 1929 16,717 Australia Mar. 10, 1934 

